I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while now and will try and keep it short. In the recent months some of you and a lot of people who I talked to from outside the gym told me that they would love to be able to commit to fitness and life a healthier lifestyle that in the end of the day will allow them to live life healthier and at the same time be able to do more (physically and mentally). BUT they lack the motivation.

Funny thing that! I can totally relate to that! If you would talk to Tomek from 8 years ago he would tell you he struggles with motivation on a daily basis. He wouldn’t go to the shops on the weekend and make sure that his fridge is filled with good quality food because he had “no time”, despite working a comfortable job 7am-4pm. He would make half-assed efforts to GET RIPPED by almost doing 2 workouts a week ….while eating pizza or Chinese 4 times a week. Thanks to the environment he surrounded himself with (on purpose) and his lack of motivation, he would be sure that on Friday its time to cut loose for the weekend because he worked hard all 5 days and he deserves a treat!

Sounds familiar?

I’ve started something and quit on it more times than you all can think of! Sad but true. It’s only with time I started understanding a few crucial things about being motivated.

Very few people are born with the ability to spontaneously find motivation every morning and do what needs to be done in order to reach their goals. Don’t expect motivation to just come to you all of a sudden - especially when it comes to fitness! If you just idly wait for it to come to you it WON’T happen.

You have to go out there and look for it! Yes you heard me right even if right now reading this you’re already telling yourself “That’s just not me, I don’t know where to start” etc. It’s right now in this very moment you have the chance to start working on being more motivated! All you have to do is start actively working on it, and this is what I suggest doing:

Goals

Every goal you set yourself must have a strong reason which comes from within! This is the time to do some soul searching. Finding the actual reasons WHY you want to achieve those goals - the more personal they are the better! Remember this stuff has to go deep to stick. Make it personal and make it emotional. That way, your goals will be more than “I want to lose 3 inches for my summer hols” …but then get plastered and put on 20. Remember we are looking for goals with reasons that will keep you on track for the next 20 years.

Social media

It can be the single most powerful thing to keep you motivated… or it can be a huge distraction in your life. Just think how many hours do YOU spend on Facebook/ Snapchat/ Instagram/ Pinterest/ Youtube etc. EVERY WEEK? How many celebs are you following? When’s the last time someone from Made in Chelsea, Hollyoaks or any other TV shows made you motivated to go into the gym and actually train or make sure you prepped your food in advance so you don’t end up eating shit?

Social Media is your opportunity to surround yourself with people who you can aspire to! This is your chance to be connected with people who overcame massive obstacles to get to where they are, people who maybe hit rock bottom bounced back and now are inspiring others!

Make this a priority if you are serious about making progress and find people that move you! Find someone with a story that you can relate to use their passion for fitness to start growing your own! Crossfit athletes, Bodybuilders, professional sports athletes, coaches, fitness amateurs - it doesn’t matter who anyone! Start connecting! Watch! Listen and draw life lessons from what they have to share with you!

In order to find it and stay motivated YOU have to take interest in whatever it is your doing!

We just had one of the biggest Fitness competitions in Ireland with athletes from all over Europe competing and socialising with EVERYONE right on our doorstep in Lisburn. Just being there amongst all of them has made me want to do a WOD. It reminded me of certain things and goals I had that maybe got side-tracked! I bet if you start looking now within the first week you will find people on social media (or real life) who light that fire underneath your ass!

Have a plan

Let’s assume that you figured out your personal goals and reasons for them in regards to your fitness. Then you’ve created a network of people on all social media platforms that will share their fitness journey with you. That you read something (doesn’t have to be blog maybe just a status update maybe just a snap whatever it is) anything that will remind you of your goals. Now it’s time to plan and execute!!!

Remember when you passed that really hard exam? Or whenever you passed your driving test? Or got that job you really wanted? Just like all those things changing your life and becoming a fitness motivated person requires a game plan that you will be able to execute! It’s time to grab life by the balls and start making CONSISTENT SMALL STEPS forward as often as you can. Not giant leaps just small steps, ideally every day!

This is what honestly helped me to start changing my life and I can’t imagine making the progress I made without those necessary small steps and changes to what I focus on and what I take active interest in!

Hopefully this will help some of you and remember if you have any questions or problems with finding people who inspire you talk to me! We might just be able to find them together!